Weight loss keeping it simple

[Nobody]

Unfortunately, these studies are based on BMI and not body fat, so take them with a grain of salt. Belly fat has been linked with early death.

What throws these stats out is that a BMI of 25-30 gives the highest average survivability after life threatening incidents and operations in hospital. This has little to do with best overall health outcomes in general life.

[anttismo]

...So all Constantheadwind needs to do is get his BMI up to 27 without putting on belly fat. Good luck with that!

My BMI is about 27 - I'm happy with that. 192cm, 92cm waist, 98 kg. Being closer in build to a centre half forward than a cyclist may not be ideal for going up hills, but hard to see a down side otherwise.

For poeple who study such things - is there much difference in health being, say BMI=30 rather than 25? Or 22? Or 18?

[Constantheadwind]

No mention in the result of being a "FOTI" to qualify. If I limit the usual evils, beer fructose etc I should qualify.
I suspect larger people spend longer twilight years in high care nursing. Not a desirable outcome either in my book.

[casual_cyclist]

...So all Constantheadwind needs to do is get his BMI up to 27 without putting on belly fat. Good luck with that!

My BMI is about 27 - I'm happy with that. 192cm, 92cm waist, 98 kg. Being closer in build to a centre half forward than a cyclist may not be ideal for going up hills, but hard to see a down side otherwise.

In my books, having a waist under 94 cm is more important than any BMI measure.

http://www.measureup.gov.au/internet/ab ... easurement

Waist measurement compares closely with body mass index (BMI), however waist measurement is often seen as a better way of checking a person’s risk of developing a chronic disease.

[casual_cyclist]

No mention in the result of being a "FOTI" to qualify. If I limit the usual evils, beer fructose etc I should qualify.
I suspect larger people spend longer twilight years in high care nursing. Not a desirable outcome either in my book.

I wasn't seriously suggesting you should get fatter to live longer. Quality of life is important too. No point living to 100 if you have type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure or cancer.

[Tony6463]

Even simpler...
Eat less, move more.

Errr... Is there really anything more to say after this?

I'd like to add "Eat Less, EAT BETTER, Move More"

You can eat less but still eat rubbish with no nutrients etc. but less of it. Around the out side of the super market, as has been mentioned and keep it as whole and as less processed as possible. The longer the self life the worse it is.

Apolgies if this has already been mentioned as I did not read all the comments.

[Nobody]

Even simpler...
Eat less, move more.

Errr... Is there really anything more to say after this?

I'd like to add "Eat Less, EAT BETTER, Move More"

Or just:

"Eat better, move more."

If that's too much, then just:

"Eat better."

[sogood]

I'd like to add "Eat Less, EAT BETTER, Move More"

You can eat less but still eat rubbish with no nutrients etc. but less of it. Around the out side of the super market, as has been mentioned and keep it as whole and as less processed as possible. The longer the self life the worse it is.

The requirement is to lose weight. Didn't say anything about staying or get healthy. But yes, eat better is good advice.

[casual_cyclist]

Simple weight loss advice: Have a look at your lifestyle including sleep and rest, exercise, food and stress. Make a commitment to change your lifestyle for the long term. Your base will be to get enough sleep and rest. Exercise enough to be active but not so much you burn out. Eat mostly whole foods and not much processed food. Manage your stress levels.

It's not that easy to quantify in a simple way:-
Sleep enough but not too much.
Rest enough but not too much.
Exercise enough but not too much.
Eat enough but not too much.
Stress enough but not too much.

The problem is that "enough" doesn't really mean anything.

[casual_cyclist]

Every so often someone, usually a newbie posts about loosing weight as a cyclist.

We eagerly rush to provide the poster lots of useful information, most of it correct. BUT in a our eagerness to help, we tend to make it complex and unfortunately many of the posters will find this complexity intimidating. Unfortunately many who find things complex just give up and this is not good.

Soooo what can we do to make the advice simpler and less confronting?

I found an answer. This is probably the best and most simple one page advice I have seen.

Research has shown that diets with a low energy density can help you to feel fuller without providing too many calories. A low energy density diet can include some foods with a high energy density, provided plenty of foods with lower energy density are eaten too.

Very Low energy density foods. Go for it! You can eat big portions of very low density foods and use them to bulk out meals.

Low energy density foods make up the bulk of what we eat and you can eat satisfying portions of these foods.

Medium energy density foods can be included in the diet, and it is especially important to eat oily fish like salmon, and to include lean sources of protein like steak, but you need to control the portion sizes of these foods and eat them alongside lots of lower energy density foods.

High energy density foods can be included in the diet, but in small portions or eaten less frequently.

http://nutrition.org.uk/attachments/423 ... RINT_2.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I think there is a lot of merit in this approach.

[toolonglegs]

Keep it simple?... "Move more and / or Eat Less"

[reefer]

And, if you need help or a motivational kickstart, go see your GP, I have some lovely little pills from my GP atm, lost 6kg the first month (covering 650km on the bike).I must add, you still need to do all the right things.
I eat well, but I eat too much, these pills sort that issue out whilst I adjust to my new regime.

[Calvin27]

Keep it simple?... "Move more and / or Eat Less"

Keep it even simpler - don't eat.

Seriously, the easiest is to just cut out major food targets. For most people you could cut weight fast by avoiding high calorie drinks. Alcohol, soft drinks, juice etc. Black coffee and lattes are fine with no sugar haha.

[wombatK]

Everyday, move a little more, and everyday change something in your diet for a better thing. Easiest way to better your diet is smaller portions, changed gradually.

Sent from my Galacy Tab with Crpaatalk

[darylcheshire]

In my own example, I lost about 6kg and then stayed there regarless of my cycling. My problem was that I was still eating a fat man's meals.
Once I'd addressed that with a dietitian and other professionals, I started to lose more weight. After a certain point it doesn't matter if you don't ride one day or pig out at a social function, as long as you keep cycling and eat the recommended food.
Keep a diary, it really helps and don't worry about variations of 1kg as that is due to fluids etc.

[TheKaptone]

Great thread interesting stuff. I have list around 70+ kg starting stuff the 180 mark then getting down to 103. I used weight watchers to kick start me then used exercise. Running was my thing and I kept going further and longer with 94.5k my pb. Has to learn to eat to fuel myself as WW taught me to eat to lose weight. Got injured from over running and have now got myself a bike just to keep the exercise up. Need to drop 10k to make myself feel where I need to be but am a lot smarter about it this time and showing more patience about it
The only thing I find hard is I work with people who can eat and do what they like and it does not affect them but u STK look the wrong way at something and feel like I have gone bad, I guess that is just training the mind

[Top_Bhoy]

Exercise doesn't matter one iota for weight loss if the diet is crap and the diet is not easy when faced with all of the temptations at the supermarket. People seriously underestimate the amount of calories in the food they eat (myself included) and have poor choice of food type (I'm better here). Hence, in my experience, keeping the diet simple by controlling portion size, minimising/avoiding all processed foods and limiting alcohol intake are the foundation to weight maintenance/loss.

[kb]

I find my taste preferences move away from junk food when exercising though. Probably due to better quality sleep.

[TheKaptone]

Great point KB it is easier to make better choices when your exercising/sleeping better. Just have to plug away at fitness and exercise routine until it all kicks in, that's the hard bit

[Frostee]

Shop around the outside of the supermarket - meat, fish, fruit, veges, dairy.

+1.

And if you venture into a supermarket, watch what the fat dudes put in their trolley. Take it
out of yours.

Same goes for restaurants and cafe's - don't order what the fat dudes order.

Cheers[/quote]

Thats funny

Ive found a book that you guys may be interested in, "Ride Your Way Lean" by Selene Yeager. Selene is a contributor to Bicycle magazine in the US, and a fitness professional. I am impressed by the actual science she presents, and the other professionals that she gets to contribute.
Check it out.

[TheKaptone]

Frostee, that book looks quite interesting, have you got/read it. Pretty cheap on amazon might grab it

[singlespeedscott]

Another diet digression thread.

The simple answer is "don't diet"

Don't follow some Paleo/vegan regime. Just stop eating crap and eat sensible food choices. Don't drink soft drink or excessive alcohol.

Avoid processed fast food ie Kentucky Fried Hungry Donald's. Fast food such as Noodle or Sushi is a far better choice.

And dont forget to ride your bike when you have the opportunity.

As long as you don't get hung up on diet or cranking out km's you'll do it in the long run.

[Frostee]

Frostee, that book looks quite interesting, have you got/read it. Pretty cheap on amazon might grab it

I have it and Im following one of her suggested training programs. Im impressed with the level of science and commonsense she uses, and the results Im getting.
And Im not easily impressed by this stuff.

[TheKaptone]

Cool I will check it out thanks

[WhingingPom]

Another diet digression thread.

The simple answer is "don't diet"

Don't follow some Paleo/vegan regime. Just stop eating crap and eat sensible food choices. Don't drink soft drink or excessive alcohol.

Avoid processed fast food ie Kentucky Fried Hungry Donald's. Fast food such as Noodle or Sushi is a far better choice.

And dont forget to ride your bike when you have the opportunity.

As long as you don't get hung up on diet or cranking out km's you'll do it in the long run.

This.

I've been following a similar approach - aka "eat less, move more" as mentioned earlier.

Stay away from anything overly heavy in sugar (especially apples and bananas) unless I know I'm going to burn it off
Avoid processed food where I can, but the odd KFHD won't do any harm
Ride where I can (home-work, quick trips down the road, taking the toddler to kindy)
As much as I'd love to ride 30km to and from work, the return journey means 45 minute less in the evening with the family, so I'll go out for 45/60 minutes once most are tucked up in bed instead
Cut down on coffee (no more than 2 a day)/anything other than water. Again, the odd one won't hurt, but a couple of cans of soft drink a day isn't the best of ideas

By following the above and riding anywhere between 150 and 200km/week I'm losing about 1-1.5kg a week. Not the fastest weight loss ever, but likely to be sustainable in the longer term.